6 Months Old

Stephen is 6 months old today. Wow, time has gone by ever so quickly. I never really liked it when my parents used to say, you are growing up so fast! In my head I was thinking, are you kidding me! This is way too slow! And now here I am thinking the same thing. (Dad / Mom, please do not laugh too hard.) I am sure this will not be the last time I realize that I sound, just like my parents.

Both my kids have changed so much in the past 6 months. I am ever so thankful that I have been at home watching them do it. In the past week, Stephen's hair has grown. It is still platinum blond and now has a slight wave to it. I am hoping that he gets his Daddy's curls, which is where his sister got them too. He responds to Kate even more and looks for her when he hears her voice. She plays peek-a-boo with him and can always make him smile.

The weather has been amazing this week. We have tried to be outside as much as possible. Since this is our first spring in this house, I am also enjoying watching everything that is literally popping up out of the ground! There are bulbs coming up in every bed of mulch. I planted a bunch of tulips and daffodils not realizing there were so many already here. I also love the crocus. I remember at our house in Olde Coach Village that there were some in the front yard and when they came up, I knew spring was near.

All the flowers remind me of my little grandmother. Pansies were her favorite flower and have always been one of mine too. I love how during the grey and bleak winter they provide a happy face of color. After her stroke, I brought a small pot of pansies to the hospital. I knew if Grandma recognized the flowers, she was "still there." She managed to pick herself a pansie and enjoyed touching them. I know it was small, but it will ever be so precious to me. The spring flowers are a sign of renewal and hope, a reminder that even with change, life keeps on going. It has been therapeutic for me to share my grandmother's knowledge of flowers with Kate. For now, I have been teaching her the names of the flowers and she also helped me plant the bulbs in the fall. Grandma would have loved my yard. I remember thinking that when we found the house. The dozen rhododendron bushes and arch of forsythia bushes along the fence line, and all the crocus, daffodils and tulips! So, when I am out there, it is easy to be reminded of her. Before she passed, I was also able to tell Grandma that I was pregnant and she was able to comprehend and remember. I am really glad she knew that Stephen was on his way.

I am sure the next 6 months will go by too fast and probably the next six years. I look at Kate and wonder where the time went! She looked at David tonight at the dinner table and asked who was he going to marry. After he explained that he was already married to me, she asked, "How do you get married. And who is going to marry me? Madeline is already married to Connor!" David's face - priceless. I did pull out our wedding album to show her all the pictures. We talked about the white dress, family and friends attending, vows.... who know what exactly sunk in. Needless to say it was a discussion I was not expecting so early, but pretty entertaining. When I was showing her a pictures of our friends, Cathy and Jerome, at the wedding, she wanted to know where Caroline (their 2 year old daughter) was. Funny girl...